Unlikely
by beanpsyche
Summary: Alex isn't one to back down from a dare, even if it means putting his reputation at stake. Even if it means humiliating himself. Even if it dredges up memories he wishes would stay buried. Even if it involves making the town drunk fall in love with him. (really just a silly little love story for shanexalex)
1. Chapter 1

The sun beat down on Alex, illuminating his clear features and thick brown hair like a halo, making the sweat on his bare chest glisten. He was at the Stardew Valley beach, sitting on a bright blue towel, as he did most summer days when he wasn't working at the barely functioning ice cream stand or working out in his room. Beside him was Haley, the beautiful, self-centered Haley, with her damp blonde waves falling over her eyes just slightly, her bikini top tied on a bit too tightly. Alex had known Haley for his whole life it felt like, but he barely knew the woman. He knew she liked photography and hanging out with him, which was apparent in the way she sat so close to him right then, the side of her arm pressing against his shoulder and her fingers slowly making circles around his inner thigh. Alex didn't move away or respond to these actions, as he was used to them by then. He simply enjoyed the feeling of the cool breeze washing away the heat from that scalding summer day.

A few inches away from the two lay Sam, the pale guitarist with hair greased so far upwards he could make it his own skate ramp. He had been swimming with them that day since he was off work from JoJa Mart. Now he lay on his towel with his hands around his head, staring up at the clear blue sky. For a while, things were nice. Haley looked up at Alex from behind her eyelashes, a look he knew all too well from her. He gave her a small smirk and then turned back to the water. In those quiet moments, Alex could almost feel normal. And then Sam started talking.

"I'm bored," he whined, sitting up abruptly. Haley didn't stop caressing Alex's thigh, just slowed her movements. Alex turned his attention to Sam.

"Yeah?"

"Summer here sucks. I want to be in the city," he continued.

"Don't we all." Haley mused.

"Summers in Stardew Valley are nice! Nothing to do, just relaxing at the beach. Perfect weather for practicing too," Alex beamed ignoring Haley's eye roll.

"Whatever, I'm still bored." Sam said. Then the only sound was the roaring ocean again, waves splashing upon the white sand.

All too suddenly, Haley stopped touching Alex's leg and began shifting on the sand, taking Alex's attention away from the sea. The blonde was propping her leg up, about to reach it over his knees, crawling gracefully into his lap.

 _No, no._ Alex thought, trying to hide his grimace. _Yoba, don't do this._ But it was too late. Haley was on top of him then, smiling sweetly down in his direction. She was a fun person to be around, sure, but Alex didn't really know how or when he got so tied up with her. He couldn't remember why he let her get in this position so often, putting her hands on his neck and leaning towards him, pressing her chest against his. He tried to smile at her but the fact was, he just wasn't interested.

"I have an idea." Sam piped up, just as Haley's lips were about to hit Alex's. She stopped, her pucker quickly twisting into a frown.

"Sam, can't you go to Sebastian's or something?" Haley scowled, like Sam was some little kid, but Alex wasn't so disappointed. _Bless Sam,_ he thought. _The guys not so bad after all._

"No, no, you can stay. What's your idea?" Alex asked perhaps a bit too enthusiastically.

"We should play a prank on someone."

"Who?" Alex asked as Haley sat back down next to him and lay her head on his shoulder instead, always needing to feel included.

"Hmm, I dunno." Sam put a finger to his mouth, obviously deep in thought about who in Stardew Valley he should torment next.

"Aren't pranks a little childish?" Haley whispered into Alex's ear, her fingers trickling down his chest. A small smile danced on her lips. It was obvious what she wanted, of course Alex knew what she wanted. It wasn't the first time he'd felt her hands on him, felt her hot breath in his ear.

"We can at least hear the guy out," Alex whispered back.

"Okay," she soothed, biting her lip. Alex smiled at her and Haley took that smile to be an affirmation of her wishes so she laid a soft kiss on his lips, pulling him in, even though he just wasn't interested.

"Shane."

Sam's voice shook the two out of their previous endeavor, pulling away from each other abruptly. Alex was thankful for the release though, turning back to Sam with raised eyebrows. "Huh?"

"Let's pull a prank on Shane," Sam continued with a mischievous grin. "Duh."

The thought of Shane made Alex's mood sour a bit. He barely ever spoke to the guy, not in the mere ten months the drunk lived in the Valley, but he knew about him. He knew about his nightly habit to go in the bar and wind up shitfaced around town. He knew that Shane didn't really have any friends, or at least kept to himself, and on the rare occasion that Alex actually tried to interact with him with even just a simple 'hey,' he knew that Shane reacted with an eyeroll or a 'fuck off.' Alex had every notion to believe that Shane was a real dick.

"Why?" Alex finally asked.

"He kinda has it coming, don't you think? I mean he's been here for almost a year and he's never even tried talking to us. It's not like this is some big town where he could avoid that sort of thing. The guy is cold-hearted." Sam explained.

"He's friends with my sister." Haley commented.

"That's because your sister gives him beer." Sam said with a smile. "Has he ever talked to you?"

"No," Haley answered.

"Because you don't give him beer."

"Okay, so how do you even want to prank him?" Alex asked, Haley's kiss still hot on his lips.

"I dare you, Alex," Sam turned to face Alex then with a devious glint in his eyes, "to make Shane fall in love with you."

Alex began to tense up. "I thought this was a prank?"

"Eh, it's a dare now, I guess." Sam shrugged.

Nerves began flying around Alex's stomach. This somehow felt like a confrontation. Why would Sam suggest him to pursue another guy? Did he know something?

"Uh, why me?" Alex asked, trying to laugh but it just sounded forced. "Why not you? Or Haley?"

"I'm pretty sure Shane isn't into girls. Besides, it's funnier this way." Sam said, smiling. "I'm sure it'll be easy for you to get him to like you anyway."

"But why?" Alex asked, confused at how his peaceful day at the beach suddenly turned into some strange high-school game of truth or dare.

"To see if we can crack that douchebag shell of his? Or, I dunno, just to mess with him?" Sam suggested, chuckling at the thought of his ingenious dare.

"Come on Alex, stop asking so many questions. It'll be funny." Haley chimed in, poking Alex in the arm.

"Yeah, yeah. Funny, you're right. I'm not gay, though." Alex tried to force another laugh, tried to seem cool with this, tried to make his lie sound totally believable.

"Yoba, don't worry, your masculinity isn't at stake here. It's just a prank." Sam groaned.

"Okay, hah, I'll do it, just to prove that I'm incredibly charming, even to people who I'm not even remotely attracted to," Alex said, scrambling to his feet. Why was he agreeing to this?

"Alex, we get it. You're straight." Haley said, rolling her eyes.

"Right. Exactly." Alex looked a bit apprehensive for a moment and then remembered where he was. He was just trying to have a nice day, why did Sam need to test him? It's not like he was gonna back down on a dare, no matter how bizarre. "How should I do this then?"

Sam shrugged. "I'm sure you can figure it out. You know where to find him every night after five o'clock, so maybe start there?"

"Right. Well, I should probably go get ready then. You know, turn the charm on. Do a few crunches." Alex said, gathering his things.

"Alright, dude, see ya." Sam waved, and then went back to basking in the sun.

Alex went home and tried to ignore the anxiety flipping in his chest. He didn't know why he felt so strongly, or why he even accepted Sam's dumb dare. He was the one who wanted a prank anyway, so why didn't he just do it? The brown-haired man began pacing his room absentmindedly. He had a few problems with this situation, one being he didn't want anyone to have any sort of notion that he was gay. And openly flirting with Shane wouldn't look too straight to anyone passing by, or would it? Maybe everyone would just assume it was a joke, since of course he wouldn't just flirt with Shane out of the blue. Because his other issue with the prank was the man of the hour himself. It was no secret that Alex didn't like Shane. He didn't like the way he acted or drank or how he acted when he drank. He just assumed that because of the way he looked and treated himself that he was akin to all the other drunk assholes in the world, and he was probably right anyway. Stereotypes exist for a reason.

Alex sighed, staring at himself in his mirror. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Maybe he should just have fun with it like Sam and Haley wanted him to, so he wouldn't look more suspicious. Soothing down his hair, Alex began to walk back outside of his house, telling himself that it just wasn't that big a deal.

By then, it was nearly six, so the sun was starting to lower beneath the mountains, casting a hazy glow over the whole town. He admired it as he walked to the Stardrop Saloon, a place he had only been inside once or twice in all of his years living in the Valley. And those times were just to play pool or order a pizza. Never to drink. So it was a much different atmosphere at this time of day, on a Friday. When he walked in and felt the cool air-conditioning hit him, heard the honky music being played over the jukebox, saw the handfuls of town members, he felt his stomach do another flip. He wasn't meant to be here, so of course everyone turned their eyes onto him. Some were kind enough to avert their glaring eyes, like Marnie and Robin, but others, like Pam, stared him down curiously as he slowly stepped further into the joint. They locked eyes for a moment, and it seemed as though she were raising her beer bottle to her lips in slow motion. Suddenly, alcohol was everywhere to Alex. The bottles on the wall, the smell of it in the air, pints of ale cluttering tables. The sight of it made him want to throw up or run. But of course, that would just look even weirder.

Emily greeted him affectionately, breaking him out of his slight trance. "Alex! I didn't expect to see you here. What can I do for you?" The blue-haired woman chirped, leaning towards him over the bar. Alex quickly glanced over to the corner of the room, near the fireplace, where he saw the man he came for, sitting as he usually did at the edge of the bar. Shane, with his tattered JoJa jacket and messy black hair. He tapped his fingers on the table, no beer bottle in front of him, just a couple stray pennies and quarters. Seeing just that, Alex could already tell he had run out of money and was jonesing for another cold one. Just because he's observant like that, and observance is a key ingredient to seduction.

So Alex turned back to the smiling Emily and said in his sweetest, most sincere voice, "Hi, Emily. I'll just have a beer, please." He slid onto a bar stool.

She didn't object or question his motives, just turned around and began fixing his order. He was relieved for that. But he wasn't going to drink the beer, no never. It was a peace offering. Peering around the corner of the bar, he noticed Sam was playing pool with Sebastian in the game room. They locked eyes, then both glanced at Shane. Understanding what was going on, Sam smiled and nodded approvingly as Emily slid the frothing pint towards him.

Alex smiled at her and took the glass, standing from the bar. The smell of it, feeling the icy droplets on his palm, was enough to make him uneasy, but still he pushed those thoughts away and strode over to Shane. The man didn't even look up.

"Hey, Shane." Alex said, putting on the charm. He knew he had a dazzling smile, everyone knew he had a dazzling smile. With perfect teeth like his, how could he not have a dazzling smile? So he gave that very same grin to the lackluster man in front of him, who only glanced up slightly. "Uh, I got you this." He put the beer down in front of him and tried to ignore the fact that everyone in the Saloon was probably staring at them.

Shane stared at the drink and then up at Alex quizzically. But despite the strangeness of the situation, Shane took the offering, as Alex knew he would.

Still looking Alex over, probably trying to figure out what was going on, Shane brought the drink to his lips. Alex took this as an invitation to enchant him. A smirk danced upon the sunshine-bathed boy's seemingly perfect lips. He leaned against the bar coolly and tried to mimic the sultry look Haley gives him when she wants something and slowly looked up at the haggard man he was supposed to be wooing, biting his lower lip all the while. He tried to ignore the blank expression on Shane's face and just assume that he was enjoying the show.

"So, Shane-" Alex began to drawl, about to start making small-talk, until the man in question held up his finger, making him stop mid-sentence.

"Hold that thought." He said roughly. Alex's expression dropped as the man leaned his head back and chugged the beer Alex had so graciously paid for and given him. Alex watched as the whole bottle was slowly downed, drops of ugly amber dribbling down the corner of Shane's mouth. Finally, with a sigh, Shane slammed the empty beer back on the bar.

"Thanks for the drink." He dead-panned, and then left the bar-stool in one quick movement, leaving Alex at the bar, trying to piece together how things fell apart for him so fast. Blinking a couple times to make sure Shane was actually gone, he swung around to try to catch him as he left, but the door was already swinging closed, leaving him all by himself. He glanced apprehensively towards Sam, who looked back and smiled sardonically. Alex's frown deepened, and his mood soured even more when he noticed that the rest of the bar was looking at him too.

Pulling his varsity jacket tighter around him, Alex made a beeline towards the exit. This was going to be harder than he thought.

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 **A/N: hi, I hope you liked the first chapter! I'm super new to ffn and writing fanfic in general so I hope it's not too shitty. you can probably see where this is going already (it's not meant to be super convoluted). Just a fun story about the two of them because I actually really like their pairing and have a lot of ideas for them. I don't really know what people say here so leave a review/follow/fave? look I'm trying my best out here...but thanks anyway for reading!**

 **-Bean**


	2. Chapter 2

Shane woke up the next morning with a heavy head and his clothes still on from the day before. But for him, this was nothing out of the ordinary. Sometimes it was just easier to keep his JoJa uniform on so he wouldn't have to go through the effort of changing. Sometimes he just sat at the Stardrop Saloon even when he knew he didn't have any money because the smell of alcohol alone was occasionally enough to soothe the thoughts in his mind. But on that night in particular, of course, he had been given a beer by Alex, or whatever the kid's name was. It was nice of him honestly (Shane would never turn down a free beer), but the image of the jock smiling so brightly and sliding him that drink with one of those looks in his eyes, kept replaying in his head endlessly. He had never even spoken to the guy. He'd seen him around, sure, but Shane tried to keep to himself so no one else would be brought down by his natural disposition.

With a sigh, he lifted himself from bed, deciding that he had just imagined that look in Alex's eyes, and that the man was simply reaching out and trying to be nice. Which just made him feel even worse. He must look like such a pity case to all those happy townspeople since he polarized them so intensely. He seemed to be the only one in Stardew Valley who didn't have a niche to fit in. Even those goth kids had each other. But he was just an outsider, the newcomer who had those sad eyes that made people move out of his way and buy him beers.

Apparently, Shane's reverie had lasted longer than he thought, as he glanced at the clock and realized if he didn't leave soon he would be late for work again, and that wouldn't really go by so well with Morris. So, he exited the ranch, skipping breakfast and ignoring Marnie who sat at the kitchen table. Squinting up towards the sun, he noticed it was another bright and warm summer day in the Valley, not that it meant much to him though, since JoJa Mart was a fluorescent-lit windowless cube where the only cool breeze he could get was when the automatic doors opened and closed. Adjusting his hat, he started the trek to the hellhole he was practically forced to work at.

Shane didn't really mind walking around town so early in the morning. Everything was quiet, no one was up, and he could for once admire Pelican Town and breath in that fresh mountain air. He walked through the sleeping streets, past Emily's house and up towards the Saloon. That is, he thought it was a sleeping town, until he heard heavy footsteps behind him, making him jump out of his skin just slightly. He swung around, expecting sudden death by some creature, only to find the same guy from the night before. This time, he was very shirtless.

"Hey, Shane!" He called and then slowed his jogging as he reached the dark-haired man. He was never out for a jog this early, and Shane would know, because he walked this same path every damn day. But there he was; brown hair messy, sweat glistening on his arms, on his abs. It's not like the dude was hiding them, it was like they were glowing in the sunlight, like a chorus of angels should be singing at the sight of them. Shane did not mean for his eyes to travel all over the guy, but it was hard not to, especially when he noticed the green running shorts he was wearing, and damn, how could anyone even get muscles so defined? Unfortunately, it seemed as though Alex definitely noticed the look-over, as he started to smirk. Shane quickly turned back around and kept walking towards work, feeling just a slight hot blush fall over his face. But Alex kept jogging alongside him.

"What do you want?" Shane asked roughly, refusing to look the man in the face.

"I'm out for a run. Duh."

"You're never out here so early." He said in a very accusatory tone.

"You memorizing my schedule?" Alex returned.

If Shane was flustered before, now he was just angry. "What the hell, man? No, I-"

"Woah, calm down. I was just kidding." Alex just kept smiling. Why wouldn't the guy stop smiling? It was unnerving. "I'm only out here now because the weather is so nice. Isn't it?"

Shane glanced at the man after staring ahead for so long, and there were those abs again, and there were those angels singing, so he quickened his pace and spat, "Seriously, just fuck off." Alex chuckled once again under his breath but Shane wasn't there to see the white of his smile. He was already down the path, pulling his arms around his chest, his mood already soured for the whole day.

Stacking cans upon cans of beans was not the most exciting job. But of course, this wasn't Shane's first time noticing that fact. Day after day he stacked cans and waited until he could clock out and go to the Saloon. After nine months in the Valley, he had a routine. His mind didn't have many places to wander to other than the cans, and the beer, and his own troubles, because he didn't have anything else to think about, and he wasn't about to let some jock ruin the monotony he had created for himself. But of course, the taunting wouldn't stop at the unusual jog in the morning. Soon enough, the automatic doors of the store slid open, letting in a short rush of cool air, but Shane didn't look up to see who had entered. He wasn't particularly surprised either when he heard Alex's voice behind him.

"I finished my jog."

Shane turned from his spot on the dirty floor where he worked on restocking the shelves, with the same deadpan expression on his face as he always had, and saw the bright-eyed man coming down the aisle. His face glistened with sweat, but he did have on a shirt now. In his hand was an energy drink, which he held up.

"Gotta stay hydrated."

"Okay?"

At this, Alex let out an uncharacteristic groan, cracking the happy-go-lucky shell he had maintained so well. "Come on man," he whined. "Would it really kill you to have a conversation with me?"

Shane's eyes narrowed back onto the shelves. "Yeah, I can feel myself going into cardiac arrest right now."

Alex scoffed at that and then said defensively, "Look, I'm only trying to reach out okay? It's no secret things have been rough for you since moving in, so I'm just being nice."

Shane stood from his position on the floor and collected the empty box beside him. "I don't want that. You're trying to mask your pity with niceness, and I don't fucking want your pity. So, I hope you feel better about yourself for trying to help poor Shane, but it's not worth it. Just stop talking to me, for fucks sake."

He hadn't realized how angry he would sound, or anticipated how raised his voice would become, but by the end, he was practically yelling at the kid in the middle of a JoJa aisle, and he watched as the man's once shining features dissolved into a hurt surprise.

But before Alex could even begin to reply, another voice came from the other end of the hall, one that made the Shane's blood run cold.

"Shane, get back to work." Morris' face was curled in disgust, his beady black eyes sticking daggers into his employee.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled to his boss, adjusting his blue cap nervously. Even if Morris hadn't heard him insulting a customer, he was still going to get in some sort of trouble for standing around on the job. Great. Now, not only had he embarrassed himself in front of Alex, but he had been a complete asshole. What the hell was wrong with him? He turned back towards Alex with a sigh and saw that his features had gone soft again, almost sympathetic. Somehow that was even worse.

"I didn't mean to get you in trouble," he pouted.

"No, I deserved it." Shane sighed, scratching the back of his neck. The two fell quiet for a moment until Shane's eyes were drawn to the Red Bull in Alex's hand. "Those are pretty bad for you, ya know."

They locked eyes, Shane realizing he was not exactly at liberty to say that, what with his little alcohol problem. Alex thought it too, Shane could tell because he got a strange look in his eye.

"Okay, that was pretty dumb of me."

"Yeah, it kinda was." Then, Alex bust out laughing, but it wasn't a mocking laugh. It wasn't a 'haha-I'm-better-than-you' kind of laugh. He was simply laughing at the irony of the situation. Shane couldn't help but crack a smile too, and Alex definitely noticed that.

Once he stopped laughing, he patted a hand on Shane's shoulder and said, "Well, I should probably pay before I get you in anymore trouble. See you, Shane."

"Okay, I guess." Shane mumbled, as the tall man turned to leave.

"Oh, and Shane?"

He turned to him once again, the fluorescent lighting seeming to glow on his tan skin.

"Blue is a really nice color on you."

And with that, Alex was gone, leaving Shane pink in the face and tugging at the collar of his JoJa uniform. What an ass, he thought. But there was no denying that blush. He quickly shook those thoughts away and went back to work, trying to forget the encounter completely.

The next couple days brought similar happenings, which Shane did his best to ignore. On his walks to and from work, somehow Alex would always make an appearance. He would either be jogging by or doing pushups in his front yard or even stretching directly outside of Jo-Ja, waving at Shane as he walked in. He would just glare at the young man momentarily and then look away and continue on with his day. He didn't have the energy or the motivation to deal with whatever his motives were. He didn't want to think about or see him, he just wanted his usual quiet routine that no one had ever tried to break. Even still, as much as he tried to convince himself that he enjoyed being alone, he truthfully really wanted a friend. But he knew he couldn't get that unless he made other major changes in his life, and he just did not have the energy for that anymore.

It seemed as though the guy was everywhere at once. He was there at work, he was jogging by Pierre's in the morning, he was sitting by the lake in front of Marnie's Ranch when Shane went to work. He would be an idiot not to think something strange was going on, especially since Alex had made no other attempts at conversation since. No matter how much Alex tried to convince him that he was just being nice, Shane wasn't an idiot.

He considered this on his way home from work that day. It was obvious, too obvious, that Alex was being put up to this somehow. But maybe he was being a giant asshole. Maybe the kid wasn't lying when he said he was trying to reach out. Maybe Shane was doing that thing that he always did where he pushed good people away. As obvious it seemed just seconds before that Alex was messing with him, Shane was quickly considering the possibility that he was the one at fault. That would make a lot of sense too. Of course he had to fuck up any good thing that came his way. Suddenly the anger he had felt towards Alex for trying to talk to him was redirected towards himself. He was an idiot.

It was around five o'clock then and the sun was beginning to set beneath the mountains. It was hotter than usual and Shane hated himself more than usual too. He knew that inside the Saloon would be even hotter, and that there was a high chance Alex would be there and Shane really did not want to look at him. He just wanted to be alone. So he felt his legs begin bee-lining away from the Stardrop Saloon and instead to the beach. He didn't go there often, but he liked the beach. He just didn't like the people that hung out there.

Luckily for him though, when his shoes hit the sand, he could already tell the beach was completely empty. There was just the creaking wood of Elliot's hut in the breeze and the sound of the waves crashing over each other onto the white, pristine sand. It wasn't as big as he remembered from visiting Marnie as a child, but he instantly felt at ease at the sight of the setting sun over the twinkling sea. It almost made him forget that he was completely sober. Shane continued onwards, his sneakers sinking slightly into the sand, until he reached the edge of the water. There he stood, staring out onto the horizon, each breath he took filling his lungs with a salty freshness.

He shouldn't be such a dick to people, he knew that. Shane wasn't a bad guy, not even close. But it's hard to show up to such a tight-knit community with a little girl at his side and a lifetime of city-assholes and dysfunction and just be expected to fit in and make friends. He was the only person in Pelican Town with a five o'clock shadow for Christ's sake. He was different. But somehow he could still kneel down and tell Jas that being different didn't make her any less cool than the other kid in town, and that being new didn't mean she wouldn't do well. Of course he wouldn't be able to take his own advice. It was different with Jas though. She still had time.

Shane shook those thoughts away and tried to re-focus onto the ocean. He was outlined with the soft golden glow of the dying sun and the toes of his shoes were soaked with salt water. He closed his eyes and basked in the feeling.

"Shane!" A warm voice rang out from behind him on the beach, shattering whatever calm moment he had lost himself in. The placid expression on his face melted into a deep frown. He turned to see who had soured his mood this time just to find Alex, once again, was the perpetrator. He couldn't say he was surprised to see him, what with how he had been popping up all week. This time, he was tossing a gridball around in his hands with a gigantic grin on his face.

"I didn't expect to see you here. I was just gonna enjoy this great weather." He opened his arms in front of him, beckoning towards the breathtaking sunset which was turning the ocean a fiery red as it sank lower and lower beneath the horizon.

Shane glanced at the sunset one last time, knowing now he had to leave. He was too embarrassed to face Alex what with all of his actions the past couple of days, so he mumbled, "Yes, this was great, until…"

"Hey, go long!" Alex called out, throwing his gridball towards the unsuspecting man. Shane couldn't even register the image of the ball flying towards him before it hit him square in the chest, almost making him topple backwards into the ocean. He let out a pained grunt as it hit him and soon Alex was jogging towards him, laughing.

"You need to work on your catching." He said, picking the ball up from the sand.

"I wasn't ready," Shane said, clutching his stomach.

"Sorry, are you okay?" Alex questioned, finally noticing the way Shane was hunched over.

"Just had the wind knocked out of me, I'm fine." He straightened back up. "I actually used to be pretty good at catching."

"Really?" Alex raised his eyebrows. "Well, I'm going to be the first professional gridball player from Stardew Valley. In high school, I led my team to the regional playoffs. Now I just gotta train extra hard so I can get my spot with the Zuzu City Tunnelers. But I'll get there. There's not a doubt in my mind." He tossed the gridball up in the air and caught it, then looked to Shane, expecting him to be impressed. But his expression was as unreadable as ever.

"Has anyone ever told you how arrogant you are?" Shane finally said. For a moment, Alex's expression faltered. It seemed as though he hadn't warmed up at all, even after he saw him soften a bit at JoJa a few days before. But then Alex noticed something different in Shane's tone. The way he said it, he seemed almost playful.

"Hah. Yeah, a couple times." Alex answered. Then he was grinning again, and he was surprised to see Shane let out the smallest smile, the corner of his lip curling upwards ever so slightly. The sight of that only made Alex beam brighter. With a short nod, Shane turned to go. "I'll see you around, yeah?" The athlete called as the shorter man treaded through the sand.

"I guess we will." Shane glanced over his shoulder to see Alex and his smile one last time before heading back to Marnie's for the night. He had a strange light feeling in his chest. And he hadn't even had a single drink.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry for the loooong wait between chapters! I'm not very consistent, but I'm not gonna abandon this story. Also thanks to the two reviews! They really made my day + are very much appreciated. hope you enjoyed the chapter :-)))))**

 **-Bean**


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